The Genesis Site - The Fall

Genesis 3

At the end of the sixth day of creation God looked at everything He had made and He saw it was all very good (Genesis 1:31). Now read your today's newspaper and you must admit something has changed since that sixth day. Life isn't that peacefull anymore.
Two great events influenced history of mankind. The first is what we generally call the fall. Since the fall relationship between God and men was broken. Life was broken. The second is the death and resurrection of Jesus. Since that day relationship between God and men can be restored. Life was restored. This chapter deals with myths about the fall. Indeed, mankind does remember death came into life.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman: "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent: "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'"
Then the serpent said to the woman: "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. (Genesis 3:1-7)

Generally speaking there are two kinds of myths about the fall. Both have components relating to the story of Genesis 3. The first kind has a god involved (or sometimes the moon or the sun), with messengers between god and men. But the message doesn't arrive correctly to men. There are a lot of variations on this myths. A few examples:

The Hottentot tribes of Africa know that once the Moon sent an insect to men with the message that, like herself, men will die but shall live again. With this words she referred to the moon phases. The insect went on his way, but a hare came leaping after him. He asked the insect for his message and the insect told him the words of the Moon. "I am sent by the Moon to men, to tell them that as she dies, and dying lives, they also shall die, and dying live." The hare said: "You are an awkward runner. Let me go." So he went to men and once arrived he perverted the message: "I am sent by the Moon to tell you: 'As I die, and dying perish, in the same manner ye shall also die and come wholly to an end.' " When he returned to the Moon, the hare was punished for this words.

Southern Nigerian Ekoi tribes talked about the sky-god Obassi Osaw, worrying about men. "Men fear to die. They do not know that perhaps they may come to life again." So he sent two messengers to men, a duck and a frog. To the frog he said: "Go to the earth and tell men that, when he dies, it is the end of all things; he shall never live again." And to the duck he said: "Go to the earth and tell men that if he dies he may come to life again." The duck had to go to the left, the frog had to go to the right. So the frog went and told his message to men. The duck also went, but reaching men she saw how people were making palm oil. She fell to gobbling it up and forgot all about the message of immortality she had to deliver. So we all are mortal down to this days, bound by the message of the frog.

The second kind of myths are dealing with the everlasting life of men which is (mostly) disturbed by the act of one (!) person. Very curious indeed, but it is even more curious the way sometimes a woman is involved.
The Tamanachiers of Venezuela have a story in which they tell about the Creator, dwelling among people. One day he went aboard a boat to cross the ocean. Sailing away he changed his voice and shouted to the people: "You will change your skins!" He ment they would renew their youth by changing their skin like serpents. So they would never die. But and old woman heard his words and full of scepticism she cried out "Oh!" The Creator heard this and became angry. "Ye shall die!", was his response. And so mankind lost his immortality.

Next myth comes from the Admiralty Islands. Once there was an old woman. While her two sons were fishing she went to bathe. She stripped off her wrinkled old skin and renewed to a young woman as she was long before. When her two sons came home they were astonished. One of them said: "It's our mother!" But the other said: "She may be your mother, but she shall be my wife!" The mother heard them talking and asked them what was going on. They said: "Nothing. We only said that you are our mother." "Liars!", she answered, "I heard you both. If I had had my way, we should have grown to be old men and women, and then we should have cast our skin and been young men and women. But you have had your way. We shall grow old men and old women, and then we shall die." Then she went to take her old skin, put it on and became an old woman again. If it had not been for those two young boys, we should have lived for ever and ever.

East African Wafipa and Wabende tribes say that one day God came down to earth. He addressed all people and animals with this question: "Who wishes not to die?". Unfortunately everyone was asleep, except the serpent. "I do!", he answered. So the serpent renews his skin each year, keeping his youth, but all other creatures have to die.
A similar story is told by the Dusuns of Northern Borneo. Having finished his creation, the Creator asked: "Who is able to cast off his skin? If anyone can do so, he shall not die." The serpent was the only one who heard the Creator's voice. So he became the only one who doesn't die. If people should have heard the Creator, they should have been able to change their skin too, and become immortal.
Likewise the Todjo-Toradjas of Central Celebes tell how God spoke to people and animals, proposing to put off their old skin. But mankind was represented by an old woman in her dotage and she didn't hear his voice. So people had to face death.

A short but very interesting story comes from the island of Nias, to the west of Sumatra. When earth was created, so is told, a certain being was sent down to earth to put the finishing touch to the creation. He had to hurry, but on his way he became hungry and stopped to eat some bananas. If he had eaten some river crabs, men would have cast their skins like crabs and so, renewing their youth again and again, would have never died. But now death came upon us all through the eating of those bananas.

---